I run a pair of .40cal muzzleloading rifles; an Isaac Haines flintlock and Richland Arms Wesson caplock rifle. Both wear Colerain barrels with round bottom rifling carrying a pitch of 1 turn in 48 inches, correct for .40cal round ball. The Wesson ex factory had a .50cal barrel measuring 28 inches long and 1 1/8 inches across flats prior to be replaced by the .40cal tube as the original barrel was pitted in all the wrong places and would not shoot accurately anymore. Both rifles will cloverleaf at 50m with round ball if the operator does his job.
Some time after rebarreling the Wesson had the new barrel installed I was on a forum when a member posted a photo of a Minie style bullet of .40cal and asked if anyone knew the history of the Lyman mould. It transpired that the hollow base bullet mould was from a limited run that Lyman did for Dixie Gun Works when Dixie was selling a .40cal youth rifle and another forum member mentioned he had the same mould, didn’t use it and would be happy to rehome it for the cost of postage. Suffice to say it came to live in NZ as I thought it would suit the Wesson down to the ground.
Some time after rebarreling the Wesson had the new barrel installed I was on a forum when a member posted a photo of a Minie style bullet of .40cal and asked if anyone knew the history of the Lyman mould. It transpired that the hollow base bullet mould was from a limited run that Lyman did for Dixie Gun Works when Dixie was selling a .40cal youth rifle and another forum member mentioned he had the same mould, didn’t use it and would be happy to rehome it for the cost of postage. Suffice to say it came to live in NZ as I thought it would suit the Wesson down to the ground.
Running up a pot of 40-1 lead/tin alloy I cast off a batch of the baby Minie bullets but was disappointed to find the 130gr bullet measured only .396 on the driving bands something I surmised would not suit the .400 bore of the Colerain barrel. What to do? How about a paper patch to increase the girth of the bullet to better fit the bore of the rifle? On hand I had some 9lb, 25% cotton content paper so established the correct dimensions for the patch (feel free to Google how to do this). Allowing the paper patch to dry and shrink tightly around the bullet the finished result registered .402-.403 on the micrometer. Perfect for the Colerian barrel. The bullets had a light coat of Neatsfoot oil applied took a trip to the range for accuracy testing. Shooting Swiss 3Fg powder the rifle and bullet decided 30gr was the right charge clustering 3 shots into a near cloverleaf group at 50m/55y and producing 1500fps. Outstanding result all round.
So how does one go about paper patching a bullet? I am by no means an expert but this is what works for the Wesson and me.
So how does one go about paper patching a bullet? I am by no means an expert but this is what works for the Wesson and me.
Using a paper cutter (guilliotine) I cut strips of paper of the correct width then with a craft knife and the template cut trapezium shaped patches. I made a ‘patching board’ from hardwood creating a small trough running across it in which to lay a bullet. A moistened patch is set lengthwise on the board with the end nearest the operator extended over the trough. The bare bullet is placed in the trough across the patch, the tip of the patch wrapped up over the bullet then the bullet and patch rolled together down the board until the patch is fully encasing the bullet. Starting the rolling process with the tip of my index finger I roll until the bullet reaches the base of my finger where the hand starts. Take the patched bullet and very carefully twisting the excess of the patch into a tail which is then tucked into the hollow based of the bullet prior to being set aside to dry. Once dried the patch will have shrunk tightly around bullet and can have a light layer of lubricant applied. For fully paper patching instructions I recommend “The Paper Jacket” by Paul Matthews.
Paper patching the baby Minie took a bullet that was 4 thousandths of an inch undersized for my barrel and unlikely to shoot well and produced an end result that makes for match grade accuracy. In addition the bullet is an awesome small game projectile as the local wallaby population of South Canterbury found out.
Thought about gift wrapping your bullets? Give it a try. It is a labour of love but the results can be very rewarding.
Jeff
Jeff